Action-packed night at West Hill show

West Hill Boxing Club hosted one of its best open shows for some time on Saturday night.

Twenty bouts took place at Hollington Community Centre in total, 13 of them involving fighters from the host club, and they were watched by a decent crowd.

Jesse Smith (right) and John Docherty.

West Hill coach and matchmaker Dave Bishop said: “It was great. A lot of the crowd came up to me and said ‘that’s the best show I’ve been to in a long time’.”

The show kicked-off with a couple of skills bouts, in which there are no decisions. West Hill youngster William White (10 years, 24.5 kilos) and opponent Theo Harkett (Reigate) both looked very good, while West Hill girl Huma Caglayan (13 years, 67 kilos) contested a lovely bout against Lucy Carson (Right Stuff, Stoke) and would have won had it been a full contest.

Moving on to the full contests and West Hill 10-year-old Frankie Smith produced a good performance in his first bout to win on a split decision against Sam McManus (Felbridge).

West Hill 11-year-old Taylor Field suffered his first defeat in three career bouts when beaten on a unanimous points decision by Zerell Gordon (Guildford).

From left: Liam Holden, Brian Robinson and Ryan Brown.

Another West Hill prospect Caleb Palmer - one of the toughest 10-year-old, 30 kilos fighters you will ever see - lost on a split decision in a humdinger of a contest against the very good Eddie Docherty (Guildford).

Two West Hill boxers then lost close contests on unanimous points decisions. Rhys O’Grady was edged out by Mohammad Amary (Fisher) and Ben Moore was on the wrong end of the verdict in a match which could’ve gone either way against Albert Joe Smith (Guildford).

Jesse Smith delivered a good display to win on a split decision against John Docherty (Guildford) and West Hill clubmate Ruhan Ahmed (13 years, 60 kilos) won by a unanimous decision against Callum Lucas (Eastbourne).

The best junior performance of the night came from West Hill’s Liam Holden. The 15-year-old was excellent in triumphing by a unanimous points decision against Ryan Brown (Golden Ring, Southampton).

As for the West Hill seniors, 20-year-old Jack Froude suffered a nose bleed but managed to last the distance in a good heavyweight bout against Rue Gayle (Fisher), losing out on a unanimous decision.

Alex Howes, 19, was also on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against Mubanga Chisanga (Eastbourne) at 66 kilos, but Brandon Davies won by the same verdict against Sher Khan (Crawley) in another great bout.

As for the non-West Hill matches, the night ended with a cracking Southern Counties 60 kilos belt challenge. Jake Clark (Golden Ring), ranked third in the country, retained the belt by defeating challenger Mark Butler (Hillcrest).

There was one knockout on the night. The big and strong Faith Afolorun (Ilford) knocked out Josh Whittington (Moulsecoomb) in his first bout at 75 kilos.

Joe Aina (University of Kent) stopped Emmanuel Babolola (Ilford) in a contest between two boxers weighing in at just over 100 kilos.